As I often do with your replies, I’ll dissect this one.
“You’re asking them to trust you- and they have thousands of other candidates who clearly show it in their full records, not just tell what their dreams are or expect points for a living situation”
Since you underlined “show,” I am inferring that you don’t think I have shown these qualities. I disagree to a certain extent, but even so, my hope is that there is a small chance adcoms would be willing to sacrifice some of the stuff I don’t hate in exchange for a boost in “homeschool” numbers, diversity, or something like that.
“they do not mean (no tippy top means) some kid lives remote, has good grades, so the rest of the epectations go out the window.”
This was not the personal context I was talking about, it was just additional information. I would agree that no tippy top schools would look at this as personal context and then throw everything else out the window, but that isn’t why I included this part. I was explaining what I was going to write my essay about and how I could potentially add diversity.
"The keyword there is “achievements.” The translation is, casually put, “exceeded expectations, triumped despite challenges (context,) is remarkable for what they have done, for themselves/their academics”
I believe I have absolutely done this. My expectations were literally to drop out. Nobody expected me to get my grade 12, let alone go to university or apply to top schools. Triumphed despite challenges? Sure, I had three years of failure and embarrassment, yet I continued on with my schooling for another three embarrassing years. Also, I did all of this work in a crappy-internet, lazy, wake-up at noon, distracting environment. I’m not sure if you have experienced this, but working without accountability in such an environment is extraordinarily difficult when compared to working in a room specifically designed for productivity. “Is remarkable for what they have done” confuses me a bit, but I would say my academic/life turn-around is pretty remarkable.
I want to make it clear that I don’t want to appear arrogant or self-centered. I have talked about these subjects so many times and if I don’t use candor then we’re all just dancing around the issue and there is no productivity.
“their local communities (not individuals, but generally organizations,) and the promise they are not just evidencing, but are en route to fulfilling.” It has to show in the record."
You got me here. I can’t really dispute any of this, but I will offer some kind of alternative for admissions officers. My essays and my life are both extremely community centered. I lived in a small community in my tiny shared cottage (among 5 families) for periods of time throughout my entire life and full-time over the past few years. My experiences with the docks and the general help I can provide to my community is demonstrated and I am absolutely proven to be able to function well in a tight group. I feel like a lot of applicants (not the accepted students) are somewhat fake, doing their volunteering or community activities with the main purpose of improving their application. My activities are certainly authentic and have been consistent throughout my life. There is nothing fake when it comes to my community service. Granted, this is worse than someone who has a ton of impressive ECs, but I don’t think it’s as bad as you would think.
“You could have gone to the nearest city, where you once said you do have a home, and gotten involved. Even a couple of hours/month, over time, is effort and continuity. You’re asking them to accept that you have no standards ECs, little peer interactions of the sort most hs kids do with a top college in mind. You appear to live in the cabin by choice, not because your family has no other alternatives and lives a subsistence existence.”
Yes, but that’s not who I am. I am not going to be changing my entire persona and lifestyle to try and improve my application. I’m going to apply and hope they find these things attractive. If they don’t, I’m not going to be in tears.
I would argue that my peer interactions are incredible. I’m writing this in a small living room with eight other family members. There isn’t much difference between talking with peers or talking with extended family members that you haven’t seen often. The reason why I would say my interactions are incredible is that I live with people like this (not the same, they filter in and out) almost every day of the summer and every weekend in the fall.
You are implying that choosing to live in a remote cottage is a bad thing for college admissions. This very likely could be the case and is also a reason why I’m so concerned with getting a lot of safeties, but I would argue it’s a good thing. How do you stand out with your college app? Most have the same grades and test scores, so it goes to ECs, diversity, essays, and that kind of stuff. By living at my cottage, I can bring a huge amount of diversity (how many applicants come from remote villages in northern Canada?) and my essays can be extremely interesting. I’m an interesting applicant at the very least, and I have the stats required for admission, so I want to shoot my shot. You seem to constantly be batting me down by comparing me to a typical applicant. I don’t want to be, and I am not, a typical applicant. My expectations are really low, but I want to throw that Hail Mary because I have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
I have to be quite honest with you, as you have been with me, I don’t understand why we keep having this conversation. You comment on a lot of threads, so maybe you don’t remember our talks, but it seems like this is extremely repetitive. You don’t think my ‘personal context’ will outweigh my lackluster standard ECs, and I think that I have an extremely interesting personal context that will help me in admissions, so it’s worth applying despite low expectations.
I would appreciate a response because I’m genuinely curious how you would respond, but I feel like our talks are nothing but frustrating for both of us.
About ASL:
Nothing I can really do at this point. Going back, I would have taken four years of FL, but I made mistakes in my first years and now I can’t change it (taking a summer FL course as is). I do have a really good reason for taking it, so maybe that will help. Who knows-- who cares. At this point, I’m not going to worry about it.